Enhancing treatment effectiveness through social modelling: A pilot study.

Faasse, Kate; Perera, Anna; Loveys, Kate; Grey, Andrew; Petrie, Keith J.

Objective:Medical treatments take place in social contexts; however, little research has investigated how social modelling might influence treatment outcomes. This experimental pilot study investigated social modelling of treatment effectiveness and placebo treatment outcomes. Design:Fifty-nine participants took part in the study, ostensibly examining the use of beta-blockers (actually placebos) for examination anxiety. Participants were randomly assigned to observe a female confederate report positive treatment effects (reduced heart rate, relaxed, calm) or feeling no different. Main outcome measures:Heart rate, anxiety and blood pressure were assessed, as were symptoms and attributed side effects. Results:Heart rate decreased significantly more in the social modelling compared to control condition,p = .027 (d = .63), and there were trends towards effects in the same direction for both anxiety,p = .097 (d = .46), and systolic blood pressure,p = .077 (d = .51). Significant pre-post placebo differences in heart rate, anxiety and diastolic blood pressure were found in the social modelling group,ps  .28 (ds = .09–.59). Conclusions:Social observation of medication effectiveness enhanced placebo effectiveness in heart rate, and showed a trend towards enhancing treatment effectiveness in both anxiety and systolic blood pressure. Social modelling may have utility in enhancing the effectiveness of many active medical treatments.

ADRENERGIC beta blockers; ANALYSIS of covariance; ANALYSIS of variance; ANXIETY; BLOOD pressure; BLOOD pressure measurement; CHI-squared test; COLLEGE students; COLLEGE teachers; EMOTIONS; HEART beat; PHOBIAS; PLACEBOS; PROBABILITY theory; RELAXATION for health; RESEARCH funding; STATISTICAL sampling; SOCIAL skills; STATISTICS; T-test (Statistics); PILOT projects; DATA analysis; SOCIAL learning theory; ANXIETY disorders; TREATMENT effectiveness; PRE-tests & post-tests; STATE-Trait Anxiety Inventory; DESCRIPTIVE statistics

Psychology & Health, 2017, Vol 32, Issue 5, p626

0887-0446

Academic Journal

10.1080/08870446.2017.1293056